


california

by ergotlinski



Category: The Neighbourhood (Band)
Genre: Cliche, Fluff, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 23:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21216995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ergotlinski/pseuds/ergotlinski
Summary: there were many things that made Jesse want to leave California.





	california

**Author's Note:**

> Inspire by  
a. West Coast - The Neighbourhood  
b. a line in _Lucky Ones by Lana Del Rey_  
_—"...Let's get out of this town, baby, we're on fire,"_  
—  
**DISCALIMER**  
_*All characters mentioned belongs to themselves. This is a work of fiction which means never happened in real life. Aside to channel my writing hobby and unhealthy obsession to this pair, I gain no material profit in making of this work._  
**English isn’t my first language. It's expected the following work would has grammatical errors, typos and oddly arranged sentences.  
***Beated by **MiyaDe**, thanks bby <3  
—  
Enjoy!

_ “I wish I wasn’t born here.” _

It was two in the cold autumn morning, and you couldn’t feel your fingertips.

Fifteen minutes ago, you were woken up by something hitting your window. As much as you didn’t want to get off from your warm blanket, you didn’t have any other option but to investigate.

Drowsiness drained in a split-second once your half-awake eyes caught a familiar figure outside. It was Jesse, in that glorious black leather jacket he was so proud of and gray beat-up hoodie underneath. He stood in your backyard with a hand full of pebbles. Now you knew where the noises came from.

You gave him your best glare, wondering what was he doing there.

He waved, gestured you to come down. You frowned even deeper. Found him standing in your backyard in the middle of the night like Michael Myers was creepy enough, and now he wanted you to come out? In the middle of a cold night? Did he know how cold it was?

Once you mentioned the temperature and how he visibly rubbed his hands together now and then, you realized Jesse could freeze his ass off by only wearing those things. Was he high or just plain stupid, you wondered.

You groaned in frustration as Jesse didn’t seem to share your thoughts and kept waving you to come down. It looked like he also didn’t pay much care about the cold. You grabbed your hoodie from the floor and another from the closet before quietly sneaking out your room.

The huge door by the end of the dark hallway was firmly closed. It was quiet. You convinced your parents were in the middle of whatever dream they had—you didn’t want to know, just hoping none of your parents caught you sneaking out in this hour, because, oh boy, you weren’t ready to separated from your beloved guitar for a month or more.

Back door closed carefully. You hastily approach your high school classmate and about to scold him how random and creepy he was. But Jesse greeted you with a large smile, your annoyance evaporated immediately. It was so odd you thought he was probably drunk. And you weren’t wrong.

He used insomnia as an excuse. He used bored-to-the-bone as an additional excuse. He used his father’s untouched six-pack beer as a further excuse. And those excuses led him here, wondering if you wanted to go for a midnight ride, he casually explained.

Jesse really loved to shock you, in weird and unique ways.

You told him to go home and rest like everybody else in this hour. You reminded him about tomorrow’s chemistry test. You pressed on how you didn’t want to fail the test or overslept on it.

He pouted, looked genuinely disappointed. Or it was just an act to persuade you. Jesse told you that he brought his bike the whole way here, and he begged you to come with him

It took him begging, pleading and almost fell on his knees to make you agreed. You felt obligated to say yes because the idea of him kneeling before you just to beg taking a midnight bike ride around the neighborhood with you sounded mean. You nodded in one condition; and Jesse agreed to wear the extra hoodie from you.

_ "Where do you want to be born?" _

The night chewed your skin alive. You barely felt your face against the ruthless autumn air as the bike disclosed the dark road. You were standing in the back, clenching tight onto Jesse’s board shoulders.

Trees in each side of the road soar in shadowy gray. Clouds were blocking the moonlight in its sinister glory. There was dread in you, but the cold air and Jesse’s pointless drunk jabber about how he got away with drinking his father’s whole six-pack beer distracted you from anything around.

Around fifteen minutes passed and Jesse stopped. He told you to come down. You tighten your grip on his shoulder as a protest. The ride brought the two of you to the far side of the neighborhood, where houses and cars no longer a welcoming sight. There were only trees, the long, straight road, dim cloudy sky and some owls that hooted now and then somewhere between the dense trees.

Jesse soothed you like a father to his child. You objected and insisted on going back to your house. You believed it was a bad idea; going for a bike ride in this hour and this place. What if something happen?

He didn’t listen and came down. Your hands hastily darted from his shoulders to the saddle looking for safe grips. Your eyes stabbed him. He didn’t pay much attention to your complaint. He threaten to left you, forced you to come down as you liked it or not.

Jesse left the bike. He smirked as he walked few feet ahead. Casually put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Stuck in nowhere with drunken Jesse, you were sure you were screwed.

You sighed as you shook your head. Whatever Jesse’s plan was, you compelled to follow.

_ “New York.” _

To your surprise, Jesse nonchalantly laid down in the middle of the road. Hands in the back of his head as a support. He stared straight to the sky that stretched above.

As you frowned at his odd move, you deliberately followed his eyes. Mouth immediately fell agape as you found the previous dim cloudy sky turned into starry ones. You swore the sky was gray and with no twinkling beads, but now, it looked like a sheet of sandpaper scattered with flickering glitters.

Jesse turned to you, patted the asphalt beside him, asked you to lie with him. You looked at him in silent awe, wondering how he could never stop to amaze you.

You walked over and laid next to him. 

And that's how you and Jesse ended up there, lying in the dark and cold road at two in the morning, talking about his dreams after finishing high school and his hatred born and growing in a giant city called California. Your eyes couldn’t escape from his.

There were many things that made Jesse want to leave California. But for instance, it was how people think born in this city was a big-shoot luck. Overrated, Jesse said. For him, California wasn’t much different from other big cities in the world; noisy, densely populated, and problematic. He believed it was him and him only who could make his life such a big-shoot luck, not where he was born, raised or grew.

"You want to go there?" There was a sad tone in your sentence. You didn’t want Jesse to leave.

You could see how hard he was thinking. A puff of white smoke came out of his mouth when Jesse let out a long sigh. Winter was coming soon. You realized your back was numb—frozen. But, you didn’t care. Tension raised as you waited for an answer, distracting you from the freezing skin.

Jesse turned his serious look he had directed to the sky above to you. His face was pale and you sure yours were too. 

"Would you go there with me?"

Jesse really did love to shock you, in weird and unique ways.

You scoffed, wishing you two bursts in laughter. Assuming he told you the truth, you reminded yourself that he drank six bottles worth of beers awhile ago; it could be a drunken joke, a drunken deep talk he would forget the next day, a drunken ramble or whatever thing you didn’t want to take seriously about. But he didn't even smirk, and you didn't want to give the wrong impression by laughing. When you tried to find humor in his eyes, you found none. He meant it, he asked you with his eyes. 

"Sure." you said without a doubt, wished it wasn’t a drunken joke or a drunken deep talk he would forget the next day or a drunken ramble or whatever thing that could waste your genuine answer to his shocking question and broke your heart. 

His lips stretched in a genuine large smile. One of his hands reached your neck. His touch was cold but it was also soft as if he tried to not inflict any pain even the slightest.

Your eyes widen when his lips met yours. Spontaneously, you tried to push him away, but Jesse won’t let you. His lips stayed there, calm; content. Eventually you felt like it was where it should belong. It was warm, it was okay. You kissed him back. Jesse smiled against your dry lips.

The cold asphalt was no longer there, either the chilling air, menacing trees or ghastly owls’ hoots. There were only the warmth of his lips, the tenderness of his hand on your neck and sparkling stars that glinted in blessing for the two of you.

Eyes bored to each other as you two slowly pulled away. He smiled. You never knew his eyes could shine in such a pretty way. And you never knew he felt the same way. There was a massive relief in your heart. You were glad. Beyond happy. You never thought today was going to happen.

"Let's get out of this town." he whispered.

He made it sounded promising, convincing; as if he would literally fight against the world with you and you only, for whatever happiness that would work for you two later.

Your lips pulled a sanguine smile. You didn't know and you didn't care whether it was a drunken joke, ramble or whatever thing he would forget the next day, the only thing you knew and cared about was being there for him. Even though it was the craziest thing he would do, without a doubt you said, 

“Okay.”

-

End.

**Author's Note:**

> ****It was an old work. I uploaded it in Bahasa awhile back but took it down and translate it for tnbhd fandom. Unfortunately, there aren't many Jesse/Zach works out there. I love Jesse and Zach. They're so cute lol. So here's my contribution for the beloved ship in this fandom.  
*****Thanks for reading!


End file.
